Daniel Cormier expects Khabib Nurmagomedov to provide plenty of problems for Tony Ferguson in their lightweight title fight.
Despite the current coronavirus pandemic, both fighters are expected to face each other at UFC 249 on April 18. Cormier was on hand to see Nurmagomedov’s preparation in training camp and claims “The Eagle” was training hard and remains as focused as ever.
And while he is naturally biased towards his teammate, Cormier does give credit to Ferguson and his body of work throughout the last few years. That said, he believes there are holes that Nurmagomedov can exploit:
“I’ve seen Tony Ferguson be so spectacular throughout the course of his career but I’ve also seen Tony at times struggle with the exact kind of game Khabib brings,” Cormier told MMA Fighting. “The Kevin Lee fight — Kevin Lee was able to implement a really good game plan early in that fight but he got tired. Then Tony was able to take advantage of a mistake he made. I watched Abel Trujillo take Tony down and control him.
“Those types of guys, and granted that was a while ago, and Tony has improved vastly, those types of guys are able to do that and those guys are not on the level of Khabib Nurmagomedov.”
So far, no fighter has been able to stop Nurmagomedov’s relentless pressure and wrestling. And despite many observers believing Ferguson is a bad matchup for the champion, Cormier believes he will struggle against Nurmagomedov.
“His [Nurmagomedov] top control is smothering,” Cormier added. “His control. His understanding of grappling and grappling positions. It’s a new level. I don’t know how else to say it. The guy is just a beast.
“I think he’s going to provide a lot of problems for Tony. Honestly, he’s much better standing that people want to give him credit for it.”
More than anything, Cormier believes the fact that everybody knows what Nurmagomedov is going to do and still can’t stop him is what makes him so dominant and special as a fighter.
“How good do you have to be that everyone you fight knows exactly what you’re gonna do,” Cormier said. “It’s no secret what Khabib is going to you and he’s still going to implement that game plan to a T. That tells you the level of what this guy is. You know what’s coming.
“My man Dustin Poirier trained for it. He knew but the moment Khabib grabbed him it was probably like ‘I’ve trained with guys before but they didn’t feel like this guy’. I just believe he’s so good at what he does, he doesn’t even have to hide it.”
Do you agree with Cormier?